(BW) India's First PACE Institution Established at PES Institute of Technology in Bangalore

Published 6:05 am, Tuesday, March 6, 2007

General Motors (GM), EDS, Sun Microsystems and UGS joined together today for the launch of a new automotive planning, design and engineering partnership with the opening of Indiaâ€™s first PACE Institution at the PES Institute of Technology (PESIT) in Bangalore.

Partners for Advancement of Collaborative Engineering Education (PACE) is a corporate initiative between GM, EDS, Sun Microsystems and UGS, with contributions from Altair Engineering, Autodesk, Engineous, Fluent, Hewlett-Packard, LSTC and MSC Software. Founded in 1999, PACE has supported more than 38 leading academic institutions around the world through the contribution of computer-based engineering tools. Its goal is to provide students practical skills in professional careers such as mechanical design, engineering, analysis and manufacturing processes.

PESIT will receive advanced computer hardware along with NX, Teamcenter Community and Teamcenter Engineering, MD Nastran and Altair Hyperworks software, which are used by automakers around the globe for product planning, engineering and data management. PESIT will utilize the hardware and software in its engineering curricula, enabling students to obtain practical experience using hardware and software currently used by leading global companies including GM.

PESIT also will receive technical, educational aid and automotive parts for students. The contributions are commercially valued at approximately US$155 million.

As part of its effort to promote the development of automotive engineering and foster automotive industry talent in India, GM will participate in setting up a product lifecycle management (PLM) education program with PESIT and PACE. PLM provides an organic connection between the development, production and aftersales service stages of a product. It is being widely adopted by the automotive industry around the world. Through the program, the General Motors Technical Centre - India (GMTC-I) will contribute to developing the automotive product lifecycle experts of the future. Students will be provided additional opportunities for practical learning by participating in PLM lectures and joint programs conducted by GMTC-I.

In conjunction with PACE, GMTC-I will host a PACE competition to give students an additional opportunity to enjoy networking opportunities with industry experts and evaluate their abilities. Since being selected as a PACE Institution in 2006, PESIT students have been paired with graduate students and GMTC-I engineers to undertake a project throughout their summer and winter vacations using software and hardware provided by PACE.

PESIT is currently participating in the PACE Global Vehicle Collaboration Project, which involves the development of a next-generation concept vehicle by 21 PACE Institutions around the world. Students and instructors from participating universities will cooperate in the design and engineering of a racing car of the future that will be unveiled next summer.

â€œIt is a matter of great importance that PESIT has been chosen by the PACE worldwide network as the first and only institution from India as a partner in the program. This adds a new dimension to PESIT in its endeavor to attain the pinnacle of performance. The PACE-PESIT partnership is an opportunity by which the many-faceted latent abilities of PESIT staff and students will surface in an effective way and make meaningful contributions to the PACE program. PESIT finds for itself a role of significant potential in the program, which envisages changing the overall face of the automotive industry by attaining global synergy,â€� said Professor Jawahar, Director â€“ PESIT.

â€œBringing PACE to PESIT is an extension of GMâ€™s commitment to Indiaâ€™s automotive industry and the development of the next generation of industry professionals,â€� said Sheila Sarver, Director â€“ Engineering and Operations, GMTC-I. â€œBy working with one of Indiaâ€™s leading academic institutions, we will provide students practical experience today that will prepare them to meet the needs of industry tomorrow.â€�

â€œPACE offers a unique combination of hardware and software to facilitate the learning of computer-aided design and engineering concepts,â€� said Abhay Gupte, managing director of Applications Delivery-India for EDS. â€œStudents gain valuable experience applying these concepts as they work on industry projects. PESIT graduates will be highly-skilled, knowledgeable and ready to work in this exciting field.â€�

Mr. Narendar Reddy, Managing Director, UGS India, said: â€œUGS is strongly committed to help the engineering talent in India enhance their skills to meet the needs of the industry. We are proud to partner with the PES Institute of Technology and other members of the PACE program to meet the objective of providing students with the most current and technologically relevant education, thus equipping them with the skills demanded by industry. Through our participation in the program, we are happy that students and the faculty of the college will have access to the software tools from the global leader in PLM solutions. This will help them conceive, design, engineer and validate projects using the same tools that todayâ€™s leading global manufacturers like GM employ.â€�

â€œWe are proud to partner with PESIT and the PACE program in enabling the skill enhancements of engineering students,â€� said Ashish Khushu â€“ Director, Public Sector, Sun Microsystems India. â€œWe have been long associated with the academic developer community. We work closely with universities to equip students with advanced skills, hands-on experience with leading-edge, open-source technologies, and the confidence to create new technologies. Not only does Sun offer training and support, the dialogue goes both ways. Sun is interested in hearing what we really need to get the most from our IT education and be ready to make a difference in the business world.â€�